





A Booklet of Suggestions 
on Making 
Mission Study 


Interesting 


and 


Effective 


By 
J. H. B. Williams 


Issued by 


General Mission Board 
Church of the Brethren 


Elgin - - Illinois 





Index 
Mission Study in the Church of the Brethren 3 
The Necessity for Mission Study 
Why the Church Must Foster Mission Study 5 
The Power Derived from Mission Study .... 7 


Whatcls “Mission Stud yt o.e. 3 a oe eee 8 
What Should a Study Class Accomplish? .. 9 
How Shall the Class Be Organized? ...... 10 
Duties of Class Officers A eee Py Par hice 11 
Organizationsfor Study .2 0. oe ee ee 13 
The. Class Méembershipoi. 20s: ee eee 14 
The. Class Hour j0iniies ee 16 
Suggestions'to Léaders=:....00).02 ee ee 17 


Some Helps that Will Be Found Valuable ..18 
After Completing the Study, Then What? ..19 


How Conserve the Missionary Impulse? ....21 


Published by 
General Mission Board of the 
Church of the Brethren 
Elgin, Illinois 


For free distribution to Mission Study Class Lead- 
ers and Church Missionary Committees 





Mission Study in the Church of the 
Brethren 


The field of missionary education in the 
Church of the Brethren has been largely un- 
tilled, excepting in very recent years, conse- 
quently there is yet much virgin soil. Here and 
there a spot has been broken, and its soil 
of human hearts in our church, with a youth so 
pure and keen, has been known to bear abun- 
dant fruitage. 

The first organized attempt at missionary 
education was in the form of the Missionary 
Reading Circle, a movement organized in the 
nineties with Brother Wilbur B. Stover as its 
first and only president. Many of our brethren 
and sisters engaged in reading missionary 
books as suggested by this Circle, but interest 
in the movement seems to have waned after a 
few years. 

In 1911 a plan was adopted by Annual Con- 
ference for missionary education in the church. 
This plan involves an organization of the 
Brotherhood by the choice of Missionary Edu- 
cational Secretaries in each District, and local 
Missionary Committees in each church. 

The plan at once became effective and 
showed merit to recommend it to the succeed- 
ing years. In 1913-1914 the spirit of Mission 
Study seemed to descend upon us in a move- 
ment that promised permanence and influence. 
That winter Brother Galen B. Royer produced 
a Mission Study book entitled “Christian Hero- 
ism in Heathen Lands,” intended as a first book 

3 


for study in class groups. Interest was awak- 
ened and many classes were organized. Diplo- 
mas have been issued to hundreds of pupils, 
who in those and succeeding years have studied 
this and other books. 

A course is now proposed for use in our 
colleges, and another more suitable for the 
more elementary work among our churches, is 
recommended. But even yet the field has 
scarcely been entered. We see hopes for the 
future as large numbers of our brethren and 
sisters and young people take up the study of 
the Master’s great white harvest fields. 


The Necessity for Mission Study 


Missionary education is the avowed foe of 
ignorance, lack of interest, indifference to 
God’s commands, covetousness among God’s 
children, and selfishness in division of the fruit- 
age of shop and herd and field. 

To be interested in missionary endeavor we 
must know what has been accomplished by 
great apostles of the modern missionary age. 
We must become acquainted with them, live 
with them, travel with them, know something 
of their hardships and victories. 

We must know something of the lands in 
which they labored, the peoples whom they 
went out to help, the fruitage reaped from 
their years spent in the isolated places of the 
world, and lastly, the permanent results of the 
entrance of God’s Word into the hearts that 
were dark and hopeless. 

We cannot read our Bibles correctly, or un- 

4 


derstand them fully, or God’s wishes intelli- 
gently, without knowing what He meant when 
He told His disciples that they should be His 
witnesses “unto the uttermost parts of the 
earth.” Nor can we understand His statement 
that “all power is given unto Me,” or His 
promise, “Lo, I am with you always” unless 
we see how He has taken men of faith and 
resolute purpose, and through them entered 
into forbidden, unknown lands, overturned 
their age-old systems, swept away the cob- 
webs of cruelty and superstition, and replaced 
worn-out institutions and customs with the 
youthful organizations of Christianity and life. 

Indeed, to understand God, it is as necessary 
to know of His present victories in lands where 
sin has reigned supreme unto the twentieth 
century, as it is to be acquainted with the Je- 
hovah of hosts, in whose might and strength 
Joshua brushed aside the foes of heaven on 
the fields of Ajalon. 


Why the Church Must Foster Mission 
Study 


We are more than two hundred years old as 
an organization. We are in our very youth in 
missionary activity. We have the Whole 
Gospel and we should give it a complete inter- 
pretation by being foremost in carrying the 
Good News to the Whole World. Without 
this conception of our task and this program, 
the revelation through us will be incomplete. 

We have a rapidly-growing force of mis- 
sionary workers on foreign soil. Our fields 

: 


have been sanctified by the willing sacrifice 
of young manhood and womanhood. The dusty 
doors of past days, and great, unoccupied fields, 
white, falling, crying out for the reapers and 
the garners, are before us. We are responsible 
for millions of people in this generation. We 
can reach them if we undertake the task. 


Our home fields are not developed as they 
should be. Many great cities in our land are 
unoccupied by us. We have cities of several 
hundred thousand in which not a missionary 
or a minister now resides. Unoccupied rural 
districts are yearning for such a Gospel as we 
possess. We have the money, we have the men, 
-we have the ability to reach them if we but 
dare and do. 


Our church, therefore, must foster missions, 
because of the men we have on the foreign 
field and because of the task before us in the 
unoccupied regions at home. Missionary in- 
telligence must always precede activity. Our 
young people must catch the vision of our 
future. This can be received best through the 
quickening impulses gained in sitting down 
together in groups that will study and discuss 
the great problems of God. He will reveal; 
He will point out; He will lead us to discover, 
each one in his own time and in God’s own 
way, what His will is for each individual life. 
He cannot do this unless we learn to trust Him 
and to follow where He leads. 


Truly, missionary education undergirds our. 
whole future success as a missionary church. 
6 





The Power Derived from Mission 
Study 


We can all pray, but we must understand 
what to pray for to make prayer effective. 

We can all give, but how shall we know how 
to give or what for unless we study? 

We can all go, but where and when shall we 
go, unless brought to honest consecration be- 
fore God? 

‘These three sentences above express the 
power. 


“A missionary preached that day, 

But knew not from whence his power; 
At home a little group had met, 

To pray for him an hour.” 


We have evidence today of the effectiveness 
of the Mission Study Class. Study itself has 
not produced the power. It has, rather, led the 
student, searching for the source of power, 
into the very presence of Him who has said, 
“All power is given unto Me, both in heaven 
and on earth.” 

Young folks have gone out from the class- 
room, wondering what they could do to make 
their lives count for the Master. They have 
learned to know what yet remains to be done; 
they have been enabled to see how the weak- 
ness of humanity can be transformed into mar- 
velous efficiency for God. 

Therefore it is well for the Missionary Com- 
mittee and the Mission Study leader to realize 
that they are dealing with possibilities in the 

+ 


pupils which they cannot know or understand. 
Only God understands. They deal with the 
heavenly dynamic of spiritual forces which will 
translate their pupils into veritable giants of 
strength. 

Mission Study will simply enable God and 
the individual student to let loose the power 
of that individual’s life into channels of great 
blessing, be he a minister, shopman, or a day 
laborer. 


What Is Mission Study? 


Mission Study is simply a careful study of 
missionary facts, aims, purposes, accomplish- 
ments. It is an intelligent inquiry into the mo- 
tives, causes, victories and possibilities of God 
working in the hearts and lives of men. 

It may be a study of the geography of the 
countries in which certain missionaries have la- 
bored; to understand the mountains, the val- 
leys, the climate, the rivers of that land. It may 
be a study of the products of that country, its 
fields, its herds, its minerals, its possibilities 
of material development. 

It may be a study of the people themselves; 
their customs, their family life, their religions, 
their social life, their political life and ambi- 
tions, their weaknesses, their inherent strength. 
Or it may mean something of their history, 
their ancestors, movements leading up to their 
present conditions. 

It may mean the life of the missionary who 
went among them, his method of approach to 
them, his success, his defeats, his victories. 

8 


It may mean the personal life of these work- 
ers, their school-days, their call to the field, 
their influence on the homeland, their journeys, 
their homes abroad, their schools, colleges, 
industrial institutes, medical institutions. 


Lastly, it will mean a study into what God 
wants done with these people, what can be 
accomplished with them, what He has com- 
manded in their behalf, and what we are going 
to do about it. 


What Should a Mission Study Class 
Accomplish? 


A Mission Study Class may reasonably hope 
to accomplish results that will be evident in 
the life of its members later in life. Likely 
there is no brief treatise on any subject which 
will exert such a permanent influence in so 
short a time with as little study or equipment 
as a Study Class with a well-written text on 
missions. It will inspire: 


A wholesome reverence for God, and an abid- 
ing faith in the power of prayer. 

A deepened sense of the responsibility borne 
by each individual in making the kingdom 
known to the world. 

A developing conviction of the necessity of 
evangelizing the world. 

A deeper interest in the work of the local 
church, and an understanding of what it means 
to a community and neighborhood. 

A sympathy with the missionaries of our 
church who have gone to heathen nations. 

9 


A love for the pastors who are in the isolated 
places of our country and in our cities. 


A sense of stewardship of the possessions 
that God has given to us. 


The class must not be expected to accom- 
plish all things. Revolutions cannot reason- 
ably be expected to work out from a short 
course on missions. But it directs the mind 
into channels of sympathy, interest and intel- 
ligence. It generates a spirit that will seek for 
more facts and live them out in actual experi- 
ence. 


How Shall the Class Be Organized? 


Who Shall Push the Organization? 


The importance of the first steps in organiz- 
ing a church for mission study are supreme. 
It must not be considered that enrollment in 
a class means volunteering for the mission field. 
Such a feeling is easily fostered. A class is 
simply to meet for the purpose of gathering in- 
formation that will be valuable, no matter 
where the pupils be located. This should be 
made clear. 


Each church should have a Missionary Com- 
mittee. This is in accordance with our Con- 
ference decision of 1911. If there is such a com- 
mittee this work would naturally fall to it. The 
absence of a Missionary Committee need be no 
bar to a class if somebody will push the work. 
The elder can choose a committee for this pur- 
pose; the Christian Workers can appoint a 
Mission Study Committee. 

10 


Presenting the Cause to the Church. 


It would be well to ask your minister to an- 
nounce the meeting to consider the subject. 
The Christian Workers can well allow one of 
their meetings to be devoted at least partially 
to a presentation of the work. 

Just before mentioning, it would be well to 
pass out enrollment cards for prospective 
pupils. These cards may ke obtained free by 
addressing the General Mission Board. Imme.- 
diately after this the subject should be forcibly 
presented. 


The presentation should include: 


A statement of the value of Mission Study. 

A suggestion as to the length of the course. 

When the class may meet, the length of the 
session. 

The main points of the course recommended. 

Then the invitation will be given for mem- 
bers to join a class. They will be asked to sign 
the cards. It should be emphasized that this 
does not obligate the signers to do other than 
give the study a fair trial. 


Taking Steps to Organize. 

Having gathered the cards and gotten the 
list of prospective members, a short session 
should be called for them immediately after 
dismissal of the service. This session should be 
simply to set the time for a meeting to perfect 
an organization. 


Duties of Class Officers 


(a) The Teacher. Great care should be 
11 


given the choice of a teacher. We can safely 
suggest that the most sympathetic, wide-awake 
person in your church is none too good for 
this place. The teacher should never be chosen 
as an experiment, or for the purpose of getting 
some particular person interested in the sub- 
ject. The issues are too vital for this. 

Among his qualifications we might mention: 

His personality. He must be one who is win- 
ning in manner. One who not only can teach, 
but please the class and lead by example; one 
who has some sense of humor, ability to adapt 
himself to any new condition, who knows how 
to awaken discussion and properly direct it. 

His education. This may not be of the best, 
though it is wise to choose one who has had 
some experience in teaching, if this can be done 
without in any way doing violence to the sub- 
ject in hand. If the teacher be of a studious 
mind, or one who has had the course, it will 
be advantageous. A class must choose the 
best available and go ahead. 

His vision and sympathy should be such that 
the cause which he must present will find in 
him a friend, who not only feels the importance 
and sacredness of the subject, but has spiritual 
insight into the possibilities of the study wisely 
directed. 

(b) The President. The president should 
have charge of the class meetings, opening and 
closing of the recitation periods, and of any 
business sessions. He should have charge of 
the routine duties falling to a president of any 
organization. His qualifications should include, 

12 


among other things, a disposition to push the 
interests of the class for all there is in him. 

(c) The Vice-President. He should be at 
all sessions and should have a perfect under- 
standing of the work and preside at any ses- 
sions in the absence of the president. 

(d) The Secretary. The secretary should 
keep a record of all class matters, a correct list 
of class members, and an attendance record. 
He should keep minutes of each session, do 
the mecessary correspondence in securing 
books, attend to examination questions, and 
keep such data as are in the province of this 
officer. 


(e) Treasurer. The treasurer should have 
charge of funds, collecting for the books and 
remitting for the amount to the proper office, 
either himself or through the secretary. Some- 
times the office of the secretary and treasurer 
are combined in the same person. 


Organization for Study 


It is logically the Missionary Committee’s 
duty to have charge of the prospective class 
until it is fully organized. The first meeting of 
the class will reasonably be expected to be he!d 
in a private home, or at the church if possible. 
In the city the church may serve the purpose 
better; in the country a home may be more 
advantageous and convenient. The writer 1s 
convinced, however, that all religious activities 
should be centered at the church, so far as pos- 
sible. 

First, a teacher should be chosen. This 

13 ; 


should be done with great care. The commit- 
tee in charge may do well to help in directing 
the class towards the proper person. 

Other officers also will be necessary. There 
should be a president, a vice-president, a secre- 
tary and a treasurer. The class should not be 
overorganized—only sufficiently to have every- 
thing work well. Certainly care should be ex- 
ercised in choosing, for upon the organization 
interest much of the success of the class will 
depend. The committee should write, before 
this organization meeting, to the General Mis- 
sion Board, Elgin, Ill, for suggestions as to 
books. The course as outlined by our Board 
should always be followed or, if for any reason 
it is not, the Board should be asked for sugges- 
tions on the book to be used. 

If you have a District Missionary Secretary 
it will be well to direct correspondence to him. 
His name will be found in the church Year- 
book. But if you fail to receive a reply from 
him, then correspond directly with the Gen- 
eral Mission Board. . 

Having decided upon a book, the secretary 
should get the names of all who desire it, and 
the book should be ordered at once from the 
Brethren Publishing House, Elgin, Ill. All 
members should have a book, though one copy 
in a home will doubtless prove sufficient. 


The Class Membership 


Whom May We Expect to Attend? 
The opportunity should be given to all to 
become members of the class. Those in charge 
14 


should not feel overwhelmed if a large number 
decide to take the work, nor should they feel 
discouraged if the number is small. Some of 
our best church workers have at times been 
members of small Mission Study groups. 

The study will especially appeal to young 
people, and hence to them should attention be 
especially directed. Some older members will 
take great delight in the class, while others 
who are scarcely in their teens may get more 
good from the work than those much older. 
Do not discourage any one from joining. 


The Size of the Class. 


This should not be more than ten in most 
instances, though the number will vary. It will 
not be wise to divide the class if there are not 
more than twelve or fourteen. However, this 
is at the discretion of the membership and the 
Missionary Committee. A group of from six 
to ten is generally considered the best size. 
Many of our churches can very easily have 
three or four of these groups. 


Attendance at Class. 


Of course all will be expected to attend regu- 
larly. But there may be some who, because of 
isolation or sickness, cannot do this. Encour- 
age all of these to keep up the reading and 
study at home if they cannot come. Some 
may live at such a distance that they never can 
be present. But they can take the course at 
home if they so desire. The Missionary Com- 
mittee can look after these. If a_ sufficient 

15 


number to form two or more classes, enroll for 
study, it will be well to divide them into groups 
according to age. The best results will be ob- 
tained where this is carefully done. 


The Class Hour 


At the organization the time will be deter- 
mined for the regular meetings of the class. 
They should be held at least weekly—seldom 
oftener. The length of the class period should 
usually be one hour—by no means not so long 
that the class will seem to weary of the reci- 
tation. 

An order of service similar to the following 
should be observed in class: 


Short Scripture reading and prayer. 
Secretary’s report of the last session. 
Any possible items of business. 
The class study period: 
Very short review of preceding lesson. 
Recitation of lesson. 
Reports from any to whom special as- 
signments have been made. 
Discussion of the principal points in the 
lesson. 
Assignment of next lesson. 
Brief prayer and close. 


This program is meant to be suggestive only. 
It will not do well always to follow any given 
form. Each class must be governed somewhat 
by its circumstances. Full freedom of action 
should be employed by the teacher. Special 
assignments should be made by the teacher at 
the preceding meeting, and those to whom the 

16 


assignments are made should be impressed 
with the importance of their subject. Do not 
allow the session to become monotonous. 
Evoke live discussions, but do not allow them 
to degenerate into meaningless arguments. Do 
not allow a few bright members to monopolize 
the class hour. Teach the class as you would 
a live bunch of students in a school or college 
classroom. 


Suggestions to Leader 


You are in the business of the King when 
you are in class session, and hence should feel 
that the stewardship of the hour is most im- 
portant. 

You should have your lesson well prepared 
before assembling for the session. Plenty of 
time will likely be available during the even- 
ings of the week. If two or more from the 
same home are in the class, the lesson can be 
read aloud and the whole household enjoy it 
with you. In most of our homes this will prove 
a most profitable evening for parents whose 
children are in the work. 

Do not combine social functions with the 
class hour. Our young people in the country 
will be apt to make this an occasion for social 
enjoyment. But thoughts of refreshments, 
games, fudge and marshmallows should not 
be allowed to interfere with the study hour. 
Both refreshments and Mission Study are 
pleasant, but the combination is not the most 
profitable for the study 

Ever keep the proper end in view. Think of 

17 


the results to be gained, the permanent help 
to be received, and the obligation you owe to 
your missionaries to study your lessons well. 

To the teacher we would say, Hold your 
class to the point at issue. Do not presume to 
lecture—the student can hear missionary ser- 
mons in the church. Awaken discussion; raise 
pertinent questions. 

lf the subject be a biography, ascertain the 
call, the motive, the childhood, the youth, the 
preparation of the missionary. If the subject be 
on evangelistic, industrial, medical, or educa- 
tional lines, seek to find out how the mission- 
ary related this work to the salvation of the 
souls whom he went out to reach. 

Let the teacher and the class be in prayer for 
this work and for the success of missionary 
effort the world over. 


Some Helps that Will Be Found 
Valuable 


Each class should have a large map of the 
world. Whatever the subject may be, all should 
know exactly the geographical location of what 
they study. If the subject be biography, or 
travel, an outline map of the country should 
be secured for each pupil, who may upon this 
map insert the date, paths of travel or location 
of events in the study. ; 

A Notebook. Each pupil should be provided 
with a notebook in which to write the points 
that he has found of special importance to him- 
self. This book may provide much material 
for talks, reviews and programs later on in 

18 


life. The class hour is too brief for fully de- 
veloping every splendid impression received. 

The class can find help on our own fields in 
the Missionary Visitor. Pictures clipped from 
this paper, items of interest, or paragraphs 
from letters appearing in its pages will be of 
interest and profit for discussion and encour- 
agement. Other magazines of a general mis- 
sionary character are’ recommended to the 
class, such as the Missionary Review of the 
World, The World Outlook, Record of Chris- 
tian Work, and Everyland. 

Also the Book of books has much of a mis- 
sionary character teeming from all of its pages. 
Study Abraham, the apostle Paul and the vari- 
ous characters who lived the ideals of heaven 
into the activities of the world. 

And lest you fail to remember from other 
suggestions, feel free to call upon the General 
Mission Board at any time you desire informa- 
tion. 


After Completing the Study Then What? 


The Examination. 


The general plan of our Mission Study work 
is to have one book as a class text. Six other 
books, carefully selected, constitute a Reading 
Circle Course—books to be read individually, 
and at home. If classes desire to take up any 
of these Reading Circle books as a class it 
is perfectly splendid, and we encourage it 
wherever possible. The book completed, ex- 
amination should be taken, for the General 
Mission Board offers a splendid Missionary 

19 


Certificate, size 11x14, suitable for framing, to 
those who pass the given test. Questions are 
supplied from the Board on any book that is 
recommended for study. The examination is 
to be conducted with the usual care given to 
an examination in school. Pupils should not 
see the questions until they are seated for the 
test. If the teacher is to take the test with 
the class it would be well to ask that the ques- 
tions be sent to some one else in the church. 
After the examination the papers should be 
handed to the secretary, who will forward them 
to the General Mission Board, Elgin, IIl., with 
25 cents each for the certificates, which will 
be sent as promptly as the papers can be 
graded, or the money will be returned. 


Graduation Program. 


The Mission Study work will be of value | 
not only to the class, for the church will profit 
by it if it is properly handled. It will be well 
to plan for a public program some evening at 
the church. Some classes have made this a 
most effective program and one of intense in- 
terest. The Christian Workers can well allow 
the class their period, and wise is the church 
that will give an entire evening to this splen- 
did program. 

Of course, one of the important featu:es of 
this program will be the presentation of di- 
plomas to the class. This should be at the 
close of the exercises and should be done by 
some one specially chosen because of his fit- 

20 


ness for this task. The pastor or the elder is 
the logical one. 


How Conserve the Missionary Impulse? 


Shall we simply take this course and then do 
nothing to utilize the interest gained? Great 
care should be observed on this point by the 
Missionary Committee and the teacher of the 
class. 

Why open a door unless we enter? Why 
study unless we act? Why read unless we in- 
terpret? Why hear the Father’s message un- 
less we go? Why learn of the needs unless 
we pray? 

The Seal Course books previously mentioned 
are to assist in doing what this provides. The 
entire course should be completed in a reason- 
able length of time, as systematically as pos- 
sible. After having completed these addi- 
tional six books, the habit of reading mission 
books will have been somewhat acquired. 
Other books of missionary character are avail- 
able in countless number, and the Board will 
gladly make suggestions if you desire. In the 
little leaflet, “Mission Study Prospectus for the 
Churches,” is to be found a bibliography of 
helpful missionary books. Next autumn there 
will be other books recommended, if the class 
desires to take up further study. 

There is a great door, and effectual, opened 
to him who is interested in this great world- 
wide, age-old, eternal subject. Special support 
of workers, systematic giving in the congrega- 
tion, prayers with point and appeal, influence 

21 


in the proper direction exerted upon others 
not in mission study—all these things may ex- 
ercise one in the further development of a 
missionary ideal and purpose for life. 

If all members and adherents of the Church 
of the Brethren work together to inaugurate a 
campaign of missionary education in the 
church, it will do much towards definitely 
awakening in all of us a sense of our duty and 
inspire us to mobilize our entire forces for 
the spread of the kingdom of God. 


For other information desired on any phase 
of Mission Study, not treated herein, please 
feel perfectly free to write to 


GENERAL MISSION BOARD of the 


Church of the Brethren 
Elgin, Illinois 








a Aen, 












